Baseball and method of manufacturing same



E. A. ROBINSON NOV. 24, 1936.-

' I BASEBALL AND METHOD OF MANUFACTURING SAME} Filed July 25, 1935 INVENTOR BY 5mm KM ATTORNEYS- Patented Nov. 24, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE BASEBALL AND METHOD OF MANUFAC- TUBING SAME Application July 25, 1935, Serial No. 33,007

Claims.

This invention relates to the method of manufacturing soft baseballs or playground balls and particularly to the process of treating the covering material of such balls both before and after 5 the same are sewed about the center fillers.

An important object of my invention is to produce a soft baseball or playground ball in such a way that the .cover or jacket of the ball may be sewed by a sewing machine about a center core of compressed filling material instead of being sewed by hand as is originally done in present day practice.

Other objects and advantages of my invention will become apparent or be specifically referred to in the following description thereof written in connection with the accompanying drawing, in which:'

Figure 1 shows a grouped View of two pieces of material cut to form, when sewed together edge to edge, a ball cover.

Figure 2 illustrates an assembled view of the compressed ball filler or core and cover after the two pieces forming the cover are partially sewed \together and the compressed core disposed therein.

Figure 3 illustrates diagrammatically the loose, wrinkled condition of the ball cover after it is completely sewed about the filler.

Figure 4 illustrates the condition of the cover gter it has been shrunk to fit snugly about the Figure 5 illustrates a cross sectional view taken on line 55 of Figure 4 and looking in the direction of the arrows and showing the general appearance of the finished jacket and seams.

Figure 6 illustrates a ball similar to that shown in the other figures except that the cover is sewed together by what may be described as a fiat seam or stitch, that is, one in which the pieces of cover material abut one another edge to edge.

Figure '7 is a fragmentary sectional view taken on the line 1-4 of Figure 6 and looking in the direction of the arrows.

Referring now to the drawing, Figure 1 illustrates two identically shaped blanks I I cut from any suitable material, preferably a chrome tanned leather, and having a configuration such that when the two pieces are joined together at the points l2l2 and said pieces sewed together in two directions for a distance indicated by the numerals I2, I 3, [4 they will form the partially sewed cover illustrated by the numeral I5 in Figure 2. For the want of a better name, I shall refer to the cover in this partially sewed state as forming a pocket. Before sewing the pieces of the cover together, as above described, they are soaked in water and thoroughly wet so that the leather is soft and very stretchy.

After the cover is partially sewed, as above described, and while it is still wet, and preferably 5; without removing the same from the sewing machine, or breaking the stitching thread, a more or less rigid and compressed center 16, made of felt, excelsior, rags or any other suitable material, is disposed therein, as shown in Figure 2. l0 Thereafter the remaining unsewed edge portions of the cover are sewed together on a sewing machine.

It will be understood that the soft, wet leather may be stretched sufficiently to permit the edges 15 thereof, notwithstanding the presence of the center I6, to be operated upon by a sewing machine and sewed together the remainder of the distance, just" as the first sewing operation was performed on the edge portions I2 to M above described. 20 Figure 3 illustrates the general appearance of the completely covered ball after the second or final sewing step has been performed. Attention is particularly called to the fact that the cover is, after the completion of this operation, noticeably 25 wrinkled and baggy.

The covered balls are then bathed in live steam or otherwise heated, such as being immersed in boiling water, which almost instantly shrinks the cover over the core as shown in Figure 4. After the covers are thus shrunk to the cores, the balls are allowed to dry. It will be understood that when the covers of the balls are dried they become set and taut against the core and that the balls may then be used if desired. 35

I have found, however, that it is preferable to finish the outside surface of the leather cover and particularly the hard, dry rough portions of the edges of the seams by tumbling, for a time, a quantity of balls in a tumbling barrel. As a re- 40 sult of this tumbling operation, the rough portions of the edges of the seams are softened or rubbed smooth and the leather cover generally acquires a suede-like nap which gives to the finished balls a pleasing appearance to the eye 45 and makes them pleasing to touch.

It will be seen, from Figure 5, that the seams are made in the covers by stitching through two thicknesses of the material so that the seams stand out slightly from the surface of the ball 5 when the cover is shrunk to the core. This may be described as a welt seam. It will be understood, however, that other types of seams may be employed, such for example, as those shown in Figures 6 and '7, wherein the cover pieces are 55 sewed together by a machine making what may be described as a fiat stitch and in which the pieces of cover material abut one another edge to edge.

While I have described What seems now to be the preferred embodiments of my invention, it is conceivable that various modifications in the configuration, composition and disposition of the component elements going to make up the same may occur to those skilled in the art, and no limitation is intended by the phraseology of the foregoing description or illustration in the accompanying drawing.

What is claimed is:

1. The method of covering ball centers with a tight-fitting machine sewed cover made of suitably formed pieces of leather, comprising soaking the pieces of said leather cover in water until they are soft and stretchy, simultaneously stitching and sewing on a sewing machine said leather pieces together about a ball center, steaming the ball thus made to shrink the cover to the center, drying the ball, and thereafter tumbling the same to finish the seams and outside surface of the cover.

2. The method of covering ball centers with a tight-fitting machine sewed cover made of suitably formed pieces of chrome tanned leather, comprising soaking the pieces of cover leather in water until they are soft and stretchy, sewing said cover pieces together about a ball center after said pieces are stretched suiiiciently for the edges thereof to be stitched together on a sewing machine to form a welt seam, steaming the ball thus made to shrink the cover to the center, drying the ball, and thereafter tumbling the same to finish the seams and outside surface of the cover.

3. The method of making baseballs having a leather covered core comprising the steps of soaking in water a plurality of pieces of leather cut to a shape suitable for covering a ball, sewing the edges of said pieces togther for a distance suflicient to form a pocket, disposing a core in said pocket, stretching the cover about said core sufficiently to enable the unsewed edge portions thereof to be sewed together on a sewing machine, heating the cover thus sewed about the core to shrink the same to said core, and drying the cover and core.

4. The method of making baseballs having a leather covered core comprising the steps of soaking in water a plurality of pieces of leather cut to a shape suitable for covering a ball, sewing the edges of said pieces together for a distance sufficient to form a pocket, disposing a core in said pocket, stretching the cover about said core sufliciently to enable the unsewed edge portions thereof to be sewed together on a sewing machine, immersing in boiling water the cover thus sewed about the core to shrink the same to said core, and drying the cover and core.

5. The method of covering ball centers with a tight-fitting machine sewed cover made of suitably formed pieces of leather, comprising soaking the pieces of said leather cover in water until they are soft and stretchy, simultaneously stitching and sewing on a sewing machine said leather pieces together half way around, then without breaking the stitches or removing the cover from the machine the center is inserted and the cover is sewed the balance of the way around the ball center, heating the ball thus made to shrink the cover to the center, drying the ball, and thereafter tumbling the same to finish the seams and the outside surface of the cover.

ELI A. ROBINSON. 

